No. 52 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION Signed at London, on 16 November 1945 Came into force on 4 November 1946 by acceptance. English and French official texts communicated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The registration took place on 12 June 1947. CONVENTION CREANT UNE ORGANISATION DES NATIONS UNIES POUR L©EDUCATION, LA SCIENCE ET LA CULTURE Sign e Londres, le 16 novembre 1945 Entr e en vigueur le 4 novembre 1946 par acceptation. Textes officiels anglais et français communiqués par le ministre des Affaires étrangères des Pays-Bas. L'enregistrement a eu lieu le 12 juin 1947. 276 United Nations — Treaty Series 1947 No. 52. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS EDU CATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISA TION. SIGNED AT LONDON ON 16 NOVEMBER 1945 The Governments of the States parties to this Constitution on behalf of their peoples declare, that since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed; that ignorance of each other©s ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war; that the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made pos sible by the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect of men, and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the doctrine of the inequality of men and races; that the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man and constitute a sacred duty which all the nations must fulfil in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern; that a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must there fore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind. For these reasons, the States parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal opportunities, for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are agreed and determined to develop and to increase the means of communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other©s lives; In consequence whereof they do hereby create the United Nations Educa tional, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations Organisation was established and which its Charter proclaims. 278 United Nations — Treaty Series 1947 Article I. Purposes and Functions. 1. The purpose of the Organisation is to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations. 2. To realise this purpose the Organisation will: (a) collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and under standing of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image; (b) give fresh impulse to popular education and to the spread of culture; by collaborating with Members, at their request, in the development of edu cational activities; by instituting collaboration among the nations to advance the ideal of equality of educational opportunity without regard to race, sex or any distinc tions, economic or social; by suggesting educational methods best suited to prepare the children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom; (c) maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge; by assuring the conservation and protection of the world©s inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history and science, and recommending to the nations concerned the necessary international conventions; by encouraging co-operation among the nations in all branches of intel lectual activity, including the international exchange of persons active in the fields of education, science and culture and the exchange of publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest and other materials of information; by initiating methods of international co-operation calculated to give the people of all countries access to the printed and published materials produced by any of them. 3. With a view to preserving the independence, integrity and fruitful diversity of the cultures and educational systems of the States Members of this Organisation, the Organisation is prohibited from intervening in matters which are essentially within their domestic jurisdiction. No. 52 280 United Nations — Treaty Series 1947 Article II. Membership. 1. Membership of the United Nations Organisation shall carry with it the right to membership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. 2. Subject to the conditions of the agreement between this Organisation and the United Nations Organisation, approved pursuant to Article X of this Con stitution, States not members of the United Nations Organisation may be ad mitted to membership of the Organisation, upon recommendation of the Execu tive Board, by a two-thirds majority vote of the General Conference. 3. Members of the Organisation which are suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership of the United Nations Organisation shall, upon the request of the latter, be suspended from the rights and privileges of this Organisation. 4. Members of the Organisation which are expelled from the United Nations Organisation shall automatically cease to be members of this Organisa tion. » Article III. Organs. The Organisation shall include a General Conference, an Executive Board and a Secretariat. Article IV. The General Conference. A. Composition. 1. The General Conference shall consist of the representatives of the States Members of the Organisation. The Government of each Member State shall appoint not more than five delegates, who shall be selected after consultation with the National Commission, if established, or with educational, scientific and cultural bodies. B. Functions. 2. The General Conference shall determine the policies and the main lines of work of the Organisation. It shall take decisions on programmes drawn up by the Executive Board. No. 52 282 United Nations — Treaty Series 194 7 3. The General Conference shall, when it deems it desirable, summon inter national conferences on education, the sciences and humanities and the dissemi nation of knowledge. 4. The General Conference shall, in adopting proposals for submission to the Member States, distinguish between recommendations and international con ventions submitted for their approval. In the former case a majority vote shall suffice; in the latter case a two-thirds majority shall be required. Each of the Member States shall submit recommendations or conventions to its competent authorities within a period of one year from the close of the session of the Gen eral Conference at which they were adopted. 5. The General Conference shall advise the United Nations Organisation on the educational, scientific and cultural aspects of matters of concern to the latter, in accordance with the terms and procedure agreed upon between the appropriate authorities of the two Organisations. 6. The General Conference shall receive and consider the reports submitted periodically by Member States as provided by Article VIII. 7. The General Conference shall elect the members of the Executive Board and, on the recommendation of the Board, shall appoint the Director-General. C. Voting. 8. Each Member State shall have one vote in the General Conference. Decisions shall be made by a simple majority except in cases in which a two- thirds majority is required by the provisions of this Constitution. A majority shall be a majority of the Members present and voting. D. Procedure. 9. The General Conference shall meet annually in ordinary session; it may meet in extraordinary session on the call of the Executive Board. At each session the location of its next session shall be designated by the General Con ference and shall vary from year to year. 10. The General Conference shall, at each session, elect a President and other officers and adopt rules of procedure. 11. The General Conference shall set up special and technical committees and such other subordinate bodies as may be necessary for its purposes. 12. The General Conference shall cause arrangements to be made for public access to meetings, subject to such regulations as it shall prescribe. No, 52 284 , United Nations — Treaty Series 1947 E. 'Observers. 13. The General Conference, on the recommendation of the Executive Board and by a two-thirds majority, may, subject to its rules of procedure, invite as observers at specified sessions of the Conference or of its commission representatives of international organisations, such as those referred to in Article XI, paragraph 4. Article V. Executive Board. A. Composition. 1. The Executive Board shall consist of eighteen members elected by the General Conference from among the delegates appointed by the Member States, together with the President of the Conference who shall sit. ex officio in an advisory capacity. 2. In electing the members of the Executive Board the General Conference shall endeavour to include persons competent in the arts, the humanities, the sciences, education and the diffusion of ideas, and qualified by their experience and capacity to fulfil the administrative and executive duties of the Board.